Mavs surprise Lakers in season opener

The Los Angeles Lakers regained their Western Conference swagger in the off-season when they landed Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, but they won't be going 82-0 this year.  At home, they lost to the Dallas Mavericks 99-91, even though the Mavs didn't have Dirk Nowitzki.

Nowitzki and Chris Kaman were both unable to play for Dallas, but the veterans on the team stepped up for a balanced attack.  Six players scored in double figures, led by Darren Collison's 17 points.

The Lakers went 0-7 in preseason, but head coach Mike Brown said he wasn't worried.  Perhaps now he'll adjust that after watching his team fall apart.  He saw how ineffective Steve Nash was without the ball.  He saw Dwight Howard go 3-14 on free throws.  He saw Metta World Peace throw up some of those infamous ill-advised three-point shots.  He was Kobe Bryant go an entire game without a free-throw attempt.  He saw his bench get outscored 37-17.

This was not a game they should have lost.  They had 31 free-throw attempts to the Mavericks' 18. They had a 46-40 rebounding advantage.  They were at home and healthy.